"[Slight imperfections are] more obvious than ever," says Dr. David Colbert, dermatologist and founder of the New York Dermatology Group. It's daylight when the show tapes, meaning no shadows in which the out-of-shape or wrinkly can hide. "Really," says Colbert, "what you see is what you get."
Little wonder, then, that with so much at stake, Oscar contenders are willing to do whatever it takes to look flawless, dropping thousands of dollars on high-tech facials, celebrity nutritionists and the best hair and makeup professionals. Want to pull out all the stops? Here's what you'll have to spend to be equally as red-carpet ready.
Hair, makeup, clothes: Taking care of just these three basics could cost a star many tens of thousands of dollars. Luckily for nominees for the five top awards (Best Actor and Actress, Supporting Actor and Actress and Best Director), the studio often pays.
"Studios see it as part of the marketing expense for a movie and, depending on the budget, hair, makeup, stylist, accommodation, even transportation to and from the venue that night [are covered]," says an executive of a major studio who wished to remain nameless for fear of revealing which stars' tabs were being picked up.
Much To-Do About The Do
To hire a hair stylist like Sam Leonardi, who has worked on celebrities Lindsay Lohan and Anne Hathaway and on Best Actress nominee Meryl Streep, clients shell out from $2,000 to $4,000 per day, depending on the actress's prominence. For a makeup artist like Pati Dubroff, who will be working on Best Actress nominee Kate Winslet, the price could hit $4,000 per day, says the studio executive.
You’ll also need a stylist to help you pick your outfit, the same way stylist Rachel Zoe helps Anne Hathway pick hers. Cost? For some stylists, as much as $7,000 a day.
Long before the clothes go on, however, the body must be chiseled into shape--a job that starts weeks (or months) before. A custom exercise regimen, says personal trainer Lauren Goldberg, depends on what a star intends to wear. If someone is going to wear a short cocktail dress, for example, "We tend to work more on legs and the lower half of the body. If they are wearing something backless, we concentrate on arms and back." Results, she says, take at least a month of working out 4 to 6 days a week. Each one-hour session with Goldberg at Peak Performance, a private training facility in New York, costs $110.
Diet is no less critical. Celebrities like actress Megan Fox enlist the help of Dr. Oz Garcia, a New York-based nutritionist, to help supply them with state-of-the-art supplements and a detailed eating regimen. Garcia’s programs often begin six months to a year in advance and cost between $6,000 and $12,000, depending on duration.
Baby That Face
A $345 facial? That’s what stars such as Renée Zellweger, Charlize Theron and Ellen DeGeneres spend at the Ole Henriksen Day Spa in Los Angeles. They take a series of such facials (some cleansing, others restorative, each one $115) over a period of three weeks, says Henriksen. A spray-on tan good enough to satisfy the likes of Jessica Simpson will cost you another $85 at the Rita Hazan salon in New York.
Oscar’s beauty arsenal increasingly includes lasers, since these promise surgical results without scalpels. Dermatologists like Dr. Colbert perform laser touch-ups of décolletage and feet for $600 a session. Likewise, Dr. Z. Paul Lorenc, an aesthetic plastic surgeon in New York, performs "laser facials" that deliver many of the same benefits as a face-lift. And dentist Dr. Jennifer Jablow uses Zoom whitening, a UV light-based whitening system, to brighten stars' smiles, for a cost of $500 to $1,000 a visit.
With all of the money spent on trying to look the absolute best on the red carpet, will we ever see celebrities just showing up as themselves?
"Not if video technology keeps advancing," says Dr. Colbert. "These days we practically have to use a magnifying glass to make sure every line is filled in and spot invisible because of the thousands of cameras on the red carpet. Minimal makeup, much less minimal maintenance, would be the worst possible thing they could to for themselves and their careers."
